3 NXT Wrestlers Called Up In WWE Draft 2021 (Night Two)
A trio of NXT wrestlers found new homes as the 2021 WWE Draft concluded last night.
NXT wrestlers Xia Li, Ridge Holland, and Mia Yim were assigned to main roster brands as the 2021 WWE Draft concluded last night.
Li and Holland were both moved to SmackDown in picks announced by authority figures Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville on Raw itself. Yim, meanwhile, was drafted to Raw in a supplemental pick confirmed on Raw Talk.
It's curious that WWE classed Yim as an NXT wrestler, given that she was on Raw as RETRIBUTION's Reckoning earlier this year and assigned to SmackDown shortly after the group split. WWE even concocted plans to have her debut through a feud with Carmella in May, though these were scrapped.
Li is less surprising. The former Tian Sha member has worked multiple SmackDown dark matches over the past few months and was linked to a main roster call-up last week. In joining SmackDown, she becomes the first Chinese female to compete on a mainline WWE brand.
Holland, meanwhile, had been active on NXT television as part of a faction with Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch, having returned from serious injury in July. He too has worked main roster dark matches in recent weeks.